What were the major accomplishments of Louis XVI?

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Quick Answer

Despite his reputation as the king who drove France to revolution, King Louis XVI was successful in instituting equal rights for non-Catholics, supporting American revolutionary efforts and refusing to raise taxes. Many of the fiscal problems that King Louis XVI faced were inherited, though he was never able to effectively address them.

King Louis XVI was the husband of Marie Antoinette. He was executed at the guillotine during the French revolution.

Despite the fact that his tarnished reputation as the king was at the core of the French revolution,

King Louis XVI was a somewhat benevolent king who refused to raise taxes for the common people in the interest of supporting the government. As a result, he was not very popular among French nobles. He was actually very popular among the people during the early years of his reign, however. He was also very supportive of independence efforts of the American colonies, in part because Great Britain was France's biggest enemy.

It was the discontent of his own court that eventually lead to his downfall. In an effort to prevent upheaval, Louis XVI resigned many of his powers as king, which limited his own ability to stop the subsequent revolution that resulted in his execution.